Taking photographs has been around for over a hundred years, and with cameras on cell phones, it has been even easier to snap a photo of something or someone. A deeper look into what a photograph is may lead to a different point of view of the very act of taking a picture.
Photograph taken from its root words is roughly "drawing light." In essence, it is a representation of what was going on at that moment in time. But is it a true representation of what was happening at that moment? If you look at pictures on Facebook, or pictures in your family photo albums, most of the pictures are of people posing for the picture. A smile is on their face, they face the camera, and wait patiently for the picture to be taken. In a sense, the picture is a representation of what was happening (peopled posed), but on a whole of the event, it is a lie.
If people walked around then suddenly stopped, gathered together, smiled for five seconds, it could be an accurately representation of what went on during a birthday party, or getting ready for prom. Pictures are meant to keep memories of events during our lives, yet of all the things that happened while getting ready for prom, does standing with everyone while plastering a smile on your face an accurate sample of what went on all evening?
An accurate depiction of what happens during a birthday party is people typically seated at a table, talking, laughing, eating, and watching someone open gifts. The pictures taken of the child opening the gift may not show him with the excited look on their face, or in some cases, the look of disappointment. Instead, it shows them presenting the gift to show its contents while the child smiles.
Recently, I attended a small concert in which my niece played her violin. There is a huge difference between the pictures I took, and the pictures my dad took. He would get her attention, and she would smile for him while he took her picture. The pictures I took were of her playing her violin, a look of concentration on her face. The last picture was of her shortly after she had finished the piece with a look of joy on her face even though she was not looking at me.
So which was a more accurate depiction and representation of what went on that night?
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